Legacy Open Mesh: Using Paypal in CloudTrax 4

Topic

This article describes how to configure PayPal to integrate with splash pages for Open Mesh access points.

Environment

PayPal

CloudTrax

Open Mesh Access Points

Description

With PayPal, you can charge users for access to your network based on time increments or bandwidth tiers.

Key features

All payments go directly to you; Open Mesh does not take a cut.

Under Paypal's Website Payments Standard, you will only pay transactions fees—no commission or monthly payments.

You keep control of the look and feel of your splash page and only add a PayPal Buy Now button.

With automatic MAC Authentication, you can allow users to roam between nodes without seeing the splash page again.

You can offer multiple bandwidth tiers, or provide a free lower-speed service tier and one or more paid tiers at higher speeds.

Steps you will take

Create a Business PayPal account where you can receive payments. You can also use existing accounts.

Enable auto-return and Payment Data Transfer in PayPal and integrate this into CloudTrax

Create a Buy Now button and payments page at PayPal.

Integrate PayPal into your CloudTrax splash page.

Procedure

The following procedure requires a Business Paypal account with PayPal Payments Standard enabled. If you are creating a new account, navigate to https://www.paypal.com/bizsignup/, and select PayPal Payments Standard when configuring your account.

If you have a Personal PayPal account, you can upgrade to a business account to access the required features.

Enable auto-return

Auto return brings your customers back to the splash page after completing their payment.

1. On your Paypal home screen, click the gear icon and select Website payments from the drop-down.

Enable payment data transfer

Payment data transfer notifies you of successful payments as they are made. You must enable auto return to enable payment data transfer.

1. Select the On radio button under Payment data transfer.

2. Copy the Identity Token value. You will use this in a future step.

Figure 4: Auto return preferences (click to enlarge)

3. In a separate window, open a CloudTrax session. From the drop-down list, select the network to link with this PayPal account.

4. Select Configure, then click Vouchers from the drop-down menu.

5. Scroll down to the PayPal section and set the values accordingly:

Clients Per Voucher: Number of Client Devices per PayPal purchase. Typically one to five (maximum 10). If you are running a coffee shop, you will likely want one device. If you run a hotel or apartment complex, you might want to set this to 3 to 5 to cover multiple guests and their laptops, phones, tablets, etc.

PayPal Identity Token: This is the unique string of numbers and letters you copied from the PayPal website. Paste it here.

Bandwidth throttling for PayPal vouchers will *not* work unless you've enabled bandwidth throttling for all SSID's you are using with the captive portal and splash-page.

Figure 5: Voucher settings (click to enlarge)

Creating your Buy Now button

1. Return to the PayPal home page. Click the Tools tab, then select All Tools from the drop-down menu.

Figure 6: The PayPal homepage (click to enlarge)

2. On the Tools page, click PayPal buttons.

Figure 7: PayPal tools (click to enlarge)

3. Select the Buy Now button.

Figure 8: Create payment buttons (click to enlarge)

Enabling the Buy Now button

1. On the Button creation screen, enter Internet Access in the Item Name box.

Figure 9: The button creation screen (click to enlarge)

2. In a separate window, log into your CloudTrax account, then navigate to Configure → SSID, and copy the Item ID string under PayPal.

Figure 10: PayPal Item ID (click to enlarge)

3. Return to the window hosting your PayPal setup. Paste the Item ID string that you copied in the previous step into the Item ID field. This Item ID is how Datto Networking will know what network users belong to when they purchase.

9. Click the Preview tab below your splash page to review. Look for a voucher entry field and your new PayPal Buy Now button.

10. Click Save Changes. It will take 10-15 minutes for all access points on the network to update.

Testing your new splash page with PayPal

1. Connect to your configured SSID. The splash page should display along with your PayPal Buy Now button.

2. Click the Buy Now button.

Figure 21: Completed PayPal button (click to enlarge)

3. Purchase one of your options using a different PayPal account, or use the Credit card as a PayPal Guest option.

4. After completing the purchasing process, a transaction verification page will display, alongside your Voucher Code. This page also sends the code to the email address used in the purchasing process.